CD drive messing up

[pyrodude]

i posted a while ago asking what could be wrong with my cd drive.

the problem is that when the driveis reading the disk it just keeps reading it and when i try to access the disk it says device not ready.

i tried using a cd cleaner and nothing happened. noe it is getting worse. The lense or something in it is now scratching my disks.

What can i do?

[Bill in SD, CA]

Buy a new CDROM?

Bill

[pyrodude]

i cannot buy a new cd rom because my computer will not let me.
I tried to put a new cd drive in and it would not work. i have tried a few by the way. could this be a problem with the software.

[alneenyo]

Describe your system. Likely is a jumper setting or something simple, but tell us what OS and hardware you have...

[Shawn711]

Maybe the data cable is bad? I would try changing that since, I would assume, that is the one constant among all the drives when you tried different ones in it..............

Shawn

[John Prophet]

a cd drive doesnt really use "software"....it just about HAS to be either a bad cable (I dont think so) or probably just that when you put the new drive(s) in the jumper on the drive was set wrong.

Because basically any cd drive should work on any computer...they are very standardized items.

how is the jumper set on the old nonworking one? see how it is set and when you put a new one in make sure the jumper is set the same way.

If the cdrom is on a cable by itself that makes it easier...either set it to "master" or "cable select"

JP

[Bill in SD, CA]

Still, should a CDROM scratch a CD?

And as JP says, almost any CDROM should work in any system.

How old is this system BTW?

Specs? OS?

Bill

[alneenyo]

You are right, Bill - a CD ROM should NOT scratch a CD. What I meant by the jumper setting suggestion is for his NEW CD ROM. You hit it right off the bat; a new CD ROM is the only solution. But cables, settings, OS etc are likely the reason a new one doesn't work...

And, yes. Specs are a must...

[Bill in SD, CA]

It's been so long since I've used one but didn't older computers use DOS drivers for the CDROM?

Bill